The effects of collaboration and minimal-group membership on children's prosocial behavior, liking, affiliation, and trust

Maria Plötner; Harriet Over; Malinda Carpenter; Michael Tomasello

doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2015.05.008

The effects of collaboration and minimal-group membership on children's prosocial behavior, liking, affiliation, and trust

J Exp Child Psychol. 2015 Nov:139:161-73. doi: 10.1016/j.jecp.2015.05.008. Epub 2015 Jun 23.

Authors

Maria Plötner¹, Harriet Over², Malinda Carpenter³, Michael Tomasello⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Developmental and Comparative Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany. Electronic address: maria_ploetner@eva.mpg.de.
² Department of Psychology, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD, UK.
³ Department of Developmental and Comparative Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, Fife KY16 9JP, Scotland, UK.
⁴ Department of Developmental and Comparative Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.

PMID: 26112747
DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2015.05.008

Abstract

Recent theoretical work has highlighted potential links between interpersonal collaboration and group membership in the evolution of human sociality. Here we compared the effects of collaboration and minimal-group membership on young children's prosocial behavior (i.e., helping and resource allocation), liking, affiliation, and trust. In a design that matched as closely as possible these two ways of connecting with others, we showed that 5-year-olds' behavior was affected similarly by collaboration and minimal-group membership; both increased children's preference for their partners on multiple dimensions and produced overall effects of a similar magnitude. In contrast, 3.5-year-olds did not have a strong preference for either collaborators or minimal in-group members. Thus, both collaboration and minimal-group membership are similarly effective in their influence on children's prosocial behavior and social preferences.

Keywords: Affiliation; Collaboration; Cooperation; Minimal groups; Prosociality; Resource allocation; Trust.

Publication types

Randomized Controlled Trial
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Child Behavior / psychology*
Child, Preschool
Cooperative Behavior*
Emotions / physiology
Female
Humans
Male
Social Behavior*
Social Facilitation*
Trust*